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I'OJMKAIT OK CAIT. SAMUE[, CIIKSTEK UEIl). 
From the celehrateil i)aiiirin;; liy .T;irvis, Isir.. 



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THE 



HISTORY OF THE WONDERFUL BATTLE 



OF THE 



Gf -lAK GEMUl AilOi 



WITH A BRITISH SQUADKON, 

AT FATAL, 1814. 

THE FAMOUS GUN, LONG TOM. 

SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

CAPTAIN SAMUEL CHESTER REID, 

COMMAXDER OF THE ARMSTRONG, WHO DESIGNED THE PRESENT FLAG 

OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1818. HISTORY OF THE 

FLAG. INTERESTING INCIDENTS, ETC. 



BOSTOX, MASS.: 
L. BARTA & CO., PRINTERS. 

1893. 






Bytr 

WhHe House. 

Entered according to Act of Congress in tlie year 1893, by 

SAM C. EEID, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington City, D. C. 



I 



DEDICATION. 



In gratitude for tlie patriotic services of that distinguished, 
brave, and accomplished United States naval officer. Commo- 
dore Richard W. Meade, in aiding to commemorate the 
gallant deeds of my father in defence of the honor of his 
country's flag, the pages of this pamphlet are specially 
dedicated. 

And, generally, to the magnanimous People of the 
United States of America, in appreciation of their noble, 
generous sentiments in never failing to recognize the heroic 
valor of their countrymen. 

SAM C. REID. 

Washixgton City, D. C, Fourth of July, 1893. 



PREFACE. 



The design of the publication of this pamphlet is to pro- 
cure by its sale a fund for the erection, at the National 
Capital, of a monumental statue of Captain Samuel 
Chester Reid, the gallant commander of the private-armed 
brig-of-war General Armstrong, in commemoration of his 
heroic valor and distinguished services to his country. 

The people of the United States generally will thus be 
enabled to contribute to tliis patriotic and praiseworthy 
object. 

This pamphlet gives the historic details of one of the most 
wonderful and extraordinary naval battles ever fought on the 
seas, with interesting incidents never before published. It 
outlines the policy of Great Britain in its efforts to gain from 
France the possession of the Province of Louisiana and the 
Mississippi River ; the causes which led to the War of 1812 ; 
the gigantic scheme of England for the conquest of New 
Orleans, Louisiana, and Mexico, and the circumstances which 
led to its defeat ; speculations as to the Treaty of Ghent ; 
a sketch of the biography and genealogy of Captain Reid 
and his services ; vindication of our merchant marine ; 
tribute of Senators Voorhees and Evarts ; letter of Governor 
Slielby ; history of " Long Tom " ; origin and history of the 
Flao- of the United States ; historical connection between 
Admiral Sir Tliomas Cochrane and Captain Reid ; the song 
of the General Armstrong ; the romance of the celebrated 
case of the Armstrong ; and the poem of James Jeffrey 
Roche on " The light of the Armstrong privateer." 



LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. 

The following extract of a letter from Hon. Hilary A. 
Herbert, Secretarj^ of the United States Navy, in relation to 
the sale of this pamphlet, in oixler to procure a fund for the 
erection of a monumental statue of Captain Samuel Chester 
Reid, at Washington City, expresses the approbation of the 
Navy Deijartment for this project. 



NAVY DEPARTMENT. 

Washington, July 15, 1893. 
Mil. Sam C. Reid, Washington, D. C. 

Deae Sir : — ... I think the purpose you have in view, 
namely, the raising of money for the [)urpose of building a 
monument to your gallant father, is patriotic and noble. . . . 

Yours respectfully, 

[SIGNED] HILARY A. HERBERT. 



EXHIBITS 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES NAYY DEPAETMENT. 



The following are among the exhibits of the United States 
Navy Department on board of the Model Battle Ship 
Illinois, and are thus mentioned in the Catalogue of the 
Exhibits of the United States Navy Department, 
World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, as compiled by 
Lieutenant H. C. Poundstone, United States Navy : 

No. 9511. Portrait of Captain Samuel Chester Reid. 

This officer was born in 1783, and died in 1861 ; served 
as acting midshipman in the West India squadron ; com- 
manded tlie private-armed brig General Armstrong, during 
the War of 1812, and fouglit one of tlie most remarkable 
naval battles on record, at Fayal, one of the Azore Islands, 
in 1814 ; he designed tlie })resent form of the flag of the 
United States, as adopted l)y Congress in 1818. Captain 
Reid was appointed a sailing master in the United States 
Navy, which position he held till liis death. 

No. 9512. The Sword of Captain Samuel Chester 
Reid. 

Tliis is the battle sabre of Captain Reid which was wielded 
willi such heroic prowess during the engagement with the 
enemy. 

6 



EXHIBITS OF THE U. S. NAVY DEPARTMENT. 7 

No. 9513. Long Tom, a Forty-two Pounder. 

One of the guns of the famous private-armed brig-of-war 
General Armstrong, commanded by Captain Samuel Chester 
Reid. 

Phe i-emarkable heroism of Captain Reid and his officers 
and men is conspicuous in the history of our country. In a 
conflict with a British squadron, mounting one hundred and 
thirty-six guns and over two thousand men, this gun did such 
admirable execution that the British lost over three hundred 
men and officers, killed and wounded. The Armstrong 
carried only seven guns and ninety men, and lost but two 
killed and seven wounded. 

The battle took place at Fayal, one of the Azore Islands, 
on the night of the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh of 
September, 1814. Tire disabling of the squadron, which was 
a part of the expedition against New Orleans, so delayed 
Cochrane's fleet at Jamaica that it saved Louisiana from 
British conquest. 

No. 9514. Figure-Head of the Private-armed Brig 
General Armstrong. 

This is a quaint and curious looking specimen of the ship 
carver's art of other days, which has now nearly gone out of 
existence. Its fantastic coloring is still in a good state of 
preservation. It was saved by the crew of the Armstrong 
after she was scuttled on the beach to prevent her falling into 
the hands of the enemy, and years afterwards was presented 
to the Naval Institute, at the Boston Navy Yard, by Mr. 
Dabney, the United States Consul at Fayal. 



THE WONDERFUL BATTLE 



OF THE 



BRIG GENERAL ARMSTRONG 



WITn A 



British Squadron, at Fayal, 1814. 



The wonderful battle between the United States private- 
armed brig-cf-war General Armstrong, and a British squad- 
ron, was fought in the waters of Fayal, one of the Azore or 
Western islands, on the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh of 
September, 1814. 

The Armstrong was a small brigantine, of only two hun- 
dred and forty-six tons, and mounted six long nines with a 
forty-two pounder, " Long Tom," on a pivot amidships. Her 
crew consisted of ninety men, including officers. She was 
commanded by Captain Samuel Chester Reid. 

The British squadron was composed of the ship-of-the-line 
Plantagenet, of seventy-four guns ; the frigate Rota, of forty- 
four guns ; and the brig-of-war Carnation, of eighteen guns, 
with a total force of one hundred and thirty-six guns, and 
over two thousand men, under the command of Commodore 
Robert Lloyd. Considering the forces engaged, the Battle of 
Fayal Avas the most desperate, bloody, heroic, and romantic 
naval fight that ever occurred on the seas. That the reader 
may more fully comprehend the extraordinary results of this 
remarkable conflict, as affecting the destinies of both Eng- 
land and America at that time, it will be necessary, before 

9 . 



10 GREAT Britain's policy. 

describing the battle, to outline what was then England's 
policy and object in regard to America. 

Great Britain had conquered the Canadas from France in 
1760, and had for long years endeavored to obtain the pos- 
session of the province of Louisiana and the control of the 
Mississippi River. France, aware of England's designs, made 
a secret treaty with Spain, in 1763, and turned over the 
Province to the Spanish authorities, with the agreement that 
Spain should make a retrocession whenever called for. After 
a period of nearly four decades, Spain made a recession of 
Louisiana, in 1801, back to France, and in view of the war 
with England, Napoleon Bonaparte, on the thirtieth of April, 
1803, sold and ceded the province of Louisiana to the United 
States for the small sum of about fifteen millions, a vast terri- 
tory now consisting of fifteen States of this Union. On the 
twentieth of December, 1803, the tii-colored flag was hauled 
down at New Orleans, and replaced by the Stars and Stripes. 
Thus were the cherished hopes of England again foiled. 

From this period, pending the war between England and 
France, up to 1808 and 1809, the British navy was ''mis- 
tress of the seas," having over nine hundred ships of war. 
Her unscrupulous commanders did not hesitate to conunit 
the most atrocious and flagrant acts by violating the neutra- 
lity of any nation to subserve their ends. 

In 1804, the British frigate Cambrian, Captain Bradley, 
entered the harbor of New York, with other cruisers, seized 
one of our merchant vessels, just arrived, and impressed and 
carried off a number of her seamen and passengers. In 
1806, three British ships of war boarded and burned the 
French ship Impetueux of seventy-four guns, which had run 
aground on tlie coast of North Carolina, a few hundred yards 
from the shore. Our coasting vessels were frequently fired 
into, and in some instances some of the crew killed. The 
notorious Captain Douglas, of tlie Leojjard, subsequently, 



CAUSE OF THE WAR OF 1812, 11 

actually blockaded the port of Norfolk, obstructed our citi- 
zens in their ordinary communication between that and other 
places, and in fact besieged the town on the land side. For 
all these hostile acts of violence and outrage on our com- 
merce and coast, these insults to our national sovereignty, 
in violation of the laws of neutrality, England insolently 
refused to give any satisfaction or make any reparation or 
apology. Finally, these outrages culminated in 1807, by 
the infamous attack of liis Britannic majesty's ship Leopard 
on the American frigate Chesapeake, off the capes of 
Virginia, which, after five years of diplomatic negotiation, de- 
termined Congress to declare war against England on the 
fourth of June,1812, under the administration of Mr. Madison. 

In March, 1814, the allied armies entered Paris. Napoleon 
had abdicated the throne of France, and was secluded in the 
isle of Elba. The dove, with its olive branch, had spread its 
wings over Europe, holding out a lasting peace. The vast 
fleets of England that had blockaded the European coasts,, 
and the veterans of her armies, were now free to strike a 
crushing and fatal blow at America's cost and humiliation. 

At last the opportunity had arrived for England to achieve 
her long wished for desire for the conquest of Louisiana. 
For this purpose, one of the boldest and grandest schemes 
was devised and planned by England's prime minister, the 
wily strategist. Lord Castlereagh, in whose hands was then 
confided the policy of the British Government, the young 
Prince of Wales reigning at that time as Prince Regent in 
place of his father, George III-, who, being mentally infirm, 
had been deposed in February, 1811. 

A gigantic expedition was arranged by which Negril Bay, 
in the West Indian island of Jamaica, was made the ren- 
dezvous for concentrating the transports and troop-ships of 
Generals Keane and Packenham, with Wellington's veterans, 
there to await reinforcements of the immense fleet of 



12 ENGLAND'S SCHEME TO GAIN LOUISIANA. 

Eiigiand's navy, under command of Admiral Cochrane, 
which was to control the Gulf of Mexico. The great scheme 
was to carry New Orleans by surprise before any defence 
could be made by any large body of troops, and with the 
Mississippi River and its coast once in their possession, to 
seize the country along the Kio Grande, and all west to the 
Rocky Mountains and the coast of California. " The 
greatest secrecy was maintained as to the ultimate object of 
the expedition," says an English writer, in attributing the 
failure of the expedition to the delay of Commodore Lloyd's 
squadron, which formed a part of the fleet. 

To delude and deceive our Covernment, and draw its 
attention away from the contemplated end in view, a demon- 
stration was first made by a part of Cochrane's fleet, which 
entered the Chesapeake witli about sixty sail, and finding 
no obstacle to impede its progress, proceeded up the Potomac 
and burned Washington, on the twenty-fourth of August, 
1814. A further demonstration was made against Balti- 
more, all for the purpose of concealing the real design of the 
expedition for the conquest of Louisiana. Inflated with the 
pride of his unexpected vandal victorj-, though at a severe 
cost, Admiral Sir Tliomas Cochrane set sail on the sixth of 
October, for Jamaica, giving out that his destination was 
Halifax, while our Government was led to fear an attack on 
New York. 

So sure was England of the triumphant success of this 
brilliant and magnificent enterprise, that l^oid Castlereagh, 
who was banqueting in Paris at the time the news of the 
burning of Washington was received, exultingiy and openl}^ 
boasted that it would not be long before Louisiana and the 
Mississippi River would become the conquered province of 
Great Britain ! But little did England's great prime minis- 
ter dream, while then sipping his wine, with an extra qout of 
exalted triumph, that his great scheme on the chessboard of 



ill 



VINDICATION OF OUll MEIiCHANT MARINE. 13 

war would be checkmated, and the little brig General Arm- 
strong, like an unseen spectre, would dash from his lips the 
goblet of all his anticipations of the successful conqueror ! 
Nor could it then be foretold that the Battle of Fayal would 
not only decide the fate of both England and the United 
States in this war, but the hand of Destiny would save the 
latter from inconceivable impending calamities, as well as 
avenge the burning of the capital by a fearful retribution ! 

During the time when the British General Ross, with his 
six thousand veteran soldiei's from the troop-sliips of 
Cochrane's fleet, was burning and pillaging tiie American 
capital, for which he afterwards paid the penalty of his life 
in his demonstration against Baltimore, the "saucy" little 
brig General Armstrong was being refitted in the port of 
New York for her fifth cruise against the enemy. She was a 
beautiful model, and had been schooner rigged, but Captain 
Reid, on being induced to take command of her, changed her 
rig into a brigantine, which made her one of the fastest ves- 
sels on the seas. She had a superior armament for boarding 
or resisting attack, with steel-strapped helmets for the men. 
She had a picked crew of experienced fighting sailors, all 
Americans, and among the marines were a number of Ken- 
tuckians. 

It is but justice to the American sailor here to state that 
the services and triumphs of our privateers during the war 
of 1812 have rarely been fully appreciated, and never were 
ranked or recognized with those of our regular navy. They 
have been universally ignored in our school histories, and in 
many so-called histories of the United States. In fact, our 
private-armed vessels of war, called privateers, and reproach- 
fully classed by some as " freebooters of the seas," were in 
every respect on a par with the vessels of our regular navy. 
The only difference was that the one were built, owned, and 
equipped by our merchants, while the others were built, 



14 VINDICATION OF OUll MEECHANT MARINE. 

owned, and equipped by tl,e Govenuuent Tl,e offi.evs oJ 
the privateers were commissioned by tbe President, just tlie 
sam as our naval office... They were under the same rules 
nd regnlations as the regular navy, and subject to the orfers 
and in:tructious of the Secretary of VVar (then General oh, 
Armstrong, after whom the famous br,g was named) t e 
being no Secretary of the Navy at that tune Ihes , v , - 
teers not only engaged the enen.y n> many a despe.ate battle 
durin.. the war of 1812, but swept the commerce of England 

from the ocean. , ^ , at i,.o 

A distinguished officer of the United Sta es Navy has 
magnanimously and most truthfully said, "The long debtee 
tarly justice t^ the volunteer or merchant sador element of 
tW 'country, which has taken a tremendous l-t •-" ™ 
„,.ritime wars, should no longer fail to be --S' ^^ J 
hKleed it was the element from winch our Revolt tomu,, 
Nlvy w.as en,M,j recruited, and which has su.ce added so 
much glory to our natimial prowess." 

The' Armstrong lay off the Battery, at New^ or , 
admiration of the citizens, aw.utiug a chance ^ >" "=_ 
blockade of Brit,sh war-ships off Sandy Hook. ^ -« 
pline of her crew was perfect, and her commandei, wlnle 
severely exacting, treated his men with great kurdncss and 
c„:^lde,-ation, which greatly endeared him to the crew. On 
. the nic-bt of the nuUh of September, 1814, just two lit te 
eeks^fter the burning of Washington, wind and fde su.t- 
; the Armstrong got under weigh with her great spreacU 
canvas and a ten-knot breeze. At mulrngb. ^'^ - ^'-« 

.board of an EngUsh ^---^^X^^::^!^ 
flew past tlie -mudscows, a^ tlie citw oa 
Britishers, she was soon out of range of then- guns, and the 
enemy gave up the chase in the attempted pursuit. 




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THE BATTLE OF FAYAL. 15 

THE BATTLE OF FAYAL. 

At noon, on the twenty-sixth clay of September, just ten 
days before Admiral Cochrane sailed from the Chesapeake, 
the Armstrong made the island of Fayal, and ran into the 
bay of the town of Da Horta, to refill with water. Fayal is 
one of the group of the Azore or Western islands, belonging 
to the kingdom of Portugal, and lies nearly midway between 
the coast of Portugal and America. The shore of the bay 
is crescent shaped, and is surrounded by a high sea-wall, in 
the centre of which lies the castle of Santa Cruz. Opposite, 
to the eastward, lies the island of Pico, only four miles 
distant, with its volcanic mountain risiiig .seventy-six hun- 
dred feet high. It was in this bay of Da Horta of the 
island of Fayal, surrounded by the most romantic scenery, 
that the battle took place. Captain Reid had gone ashore 
to make arrangements with the American consul, Mr. John 
B. Dabney, for a supply of fresh water, and had accepted 
the hospitality of that patriotic gentleman of the old school, 
to dine with him. hi making inquiry about the enemy's 
cruisers, Captain Heid was informed by Mr. Dabney that 
none had visited those islands for several weeks. About 
5 P.M. Captain Reid returned aboard his vessel with the 
consul and several gentlemen in company. While they 
were conversing, it being nearly sundown, the British brig- 
of-war Carnation suddenly hove in sight close under the 
northeast headland of the harbor, and entering the bay 
anchored within half a cable's length of the Armstrong. 
Soon after the frigate Rosa and ship-of-the-line Plantagenet 
followed, and came to anchor in the roads, the squadron 
being on its way to join Cochrane's fleet at Jamaica. 

Commodore Lloyd, who commanded the squadron, had 
previously been informed by the pilot out at sea that the 
Armstrong was in the harbor, and he at once determined 



IG THE BATTLE OF FAYAL. 

upon her capture. The brig Carnation immediately began 
sionalizincr with the fleet, threw out four hirge launches or 
boats, and commenced passing arms into them. All these 
movements could be seen, and the orders given were distinctly 
heard on board the Armstrong. At the same time the British 
brig made every preparation to intercept the privateer should 
she attempt to escape. Although Captain Reid had been 
assured of the perfect safety of his vessel by the American 
consul, being in a neutral port, he now felt certain, from 
the manoeuvres of the fleet and the preparations going on, that 
there would be trouble, and he accordingly told the gentle- 
men that they had better go on shore. After their departure 
a council was held among the officers of the Armstrong, and 
it was hrst suggested that they should make an effort to get 
out to sea ; but the wind being very light, it was determined 
to haul close in under the guns of the castle for protection. 

Captain Reid immediately gave secret orders to clear the 
deck for action, and cautioned the crew to make as little 
noise as possible. He then cnt his cable, got out sweeps and 
commenced pulling in shore to the castle. The Carnation 
immediately dropped her topsails and made sail, to prevent 
the privateer from going out of the harbor should she attempt 
it, while the boats, which were lying alongside, were ordered 
in chase of the Armstrong. It was now about eight o'clock 
in the evening. The moon, which was near its full, was 
gradually rising, and silver-sprinkling with its beams the 
beautiful bay, the hills of Da Horta, and Mount Pico, while 
not a ripple broke the stillness of the glittering surface, save 
the splash of the oars of the four large launches, well armed, 
carrying about forty men each, which were pulling swiftly 
towards the privateer. Captain Roid immediately ceased 
pulling towards the shore, let go an anchor, and got springs 
on his cable so as to bring the vessel broadside to the enemy. 

At this time one of the large launches, which was consid- 



THE BATTLE OF FAYAL ; FIRST ATTACK. IT 

erably in the advance, pulled up under the stern of the Arm- 
strong, when Captain Reid, with speaking-trumpet in hand, 
being in his shirt-sleeves, and all hands at quarters, hailed 
the boat three times. No answer was returned except by 
one of the sailors, who asked in a gruff voice what was the 
matter. The officer replied: "Make no answer, sir; pull 
away, my lads," and the next moment the word was given 
to "toss oars," and with their boat-hooks they hauled along- 
side under the port quarter of the privateer. The officer in 
the boat then cried out : " Fire and board, my lads," and as the 
men rose from their seats, Captain Reid instantly gave the 
word to his marines to fire, which was almost simultaneous 
on the part of both. One man on board the privateer was 
instantly killed, and the first lieutenant, Fred. A. Worth, a 
brother of the late General Worth, of the United States Army, 
was wounded. The men in the boat were severely cut up, 
and they cried out for quarter, while the other three boats, 
pulling up at full speed on the starboard side, immediately 
opened their fire. They were received with a full broadside 
of grape and canister, which Avas followed by the shrieks 
and groans of the wounded and dying. A fierce struggle 
now ensued, in which the enemy made a desperate attempt 
to board ; but staggered and appalled by the galling fire of 
the privateer, they cried out for quarter, and the boats pulled 
off in a sinking condition with great loss. Captain Reid 
refusing to take them prisoners. 

The General Armstrong then weighed anchor and pulled 
in toward the shore, about lialf-pistol shot from the castle, 
where she was moored head and stern near the beach, with 
her port side next to the shore. The Carnation, in the 
meanwhile, sailed down to the fleet, and it was soon evident 
that they had determined on a more formidable attack. The 
American consul at this time had written a note to the 
Portuguese Governor, demanding protection for the privateer. 



18 THE BATTLE OF FAVAL. 

but the Governor simply despatched a note to Admiral Lloyd, 
requesting him to abstain from further hostilities. To this 
note Lloyd replied that, as the Americans had first fired into 
one of their boats witliout any provocation, he now deter- 
mined to take the privateer at all hazards, and, if protection 
were afforded her, he would fire into the town. 

About 9 P. M., the wind having breezed up, the enemy's 
brig was observed standing in with a large fleet of boats in 
tow, numbering fourteen, and carrying between forty and 
fifty men each, armed with carronades, swivels, blunder- 
busses and musketry, making an aggregate force of at least 
five hundred and sixty men. When within gunshot, the 
boats cast off from the brig, and took their stations in three 
divisions under cover of a small reef or island of rocks, within 
musket-shot of the privateer. The brig kept under way to 
act with the boats in case the privateer attempted to escape. 
hi the meantime terror and consternation had spread through 
the town. The windows of the houses nearest the scene 
were filled with women, and the sea-walls were crowded 
with the inhabitants, awaiting with intense excitement and 
breathless expectation the coming attack. There lay the 
American brig with her tall, tapering spars, sleeping on the 
moonlit waters as quiet and as peaceful as an over-wearied 
child. There she lay, like the apparition of a phantom ship ; 
not a movement was to be seen, not a sound was heard to 
break the stillness of her decks, and seemingly deserted, from 
the death-like silence which prevailed. Notwithstanding, Cap- 
tain Reid had made every preparation to receive the enemy 
on all sides, and his crew were then lying concealed at their 
quarters. In this position the belligerents remained for 
nearly three hours, watching each other with painful interest. 
When it is considered that the crew of tlie Armstrong had 
nothing to gain, and had no motive for remaining by their 
vessel but the defence of their country's honor, when they 





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THE BATTLE OF FAYAL ; MIDXICxHT ATTACK. 19 

saw the terrible odds that opposed them, and which threat- 
ened a fearful retribution, with no hope of reward except 
death for the defence of the American flag, while a leap to 
the shore lield out to them the inducement of safety, it is 
remarkable that they stood so lirm, and their wonderful dis- 
cipline and courage may be imagined. 

At length, at midnight, the eiiemy seemed resolved upon 
the attack, and the boats were observed in motion. Instead 
of api)roaching by divisions, as Captain Reid expected, they 
came on in solid column in a direct line. When about 
twenty-five yards off. Captain Reid ordered his men to stand 
by after the fire, to run in the guns and lash in the ports, in 
order to prevent the eneni}^ from getting through the port- 
holes on boarding, as they would not have time to reload the 
guns before the enemy would be alongside. The men were 
then cautioned to wait for the word, and to be sure of their 
object. The Long Tom, a heavy forty-two pounder, 
placed on a pivot amidships, was sighted with fearful accu- 
racy. On came the British boats with undaunted intrepidity, 
when they were again hailed by Captain Reid, but no answer 
was returned. The fatal command was then given, and a 
tremendous fire was opened on the enemy, the thunder and 
crash of which broke the charmed stillness of the before 
quiet midnight scene. The discharge of our Long Tom 
rather staggered them. Reeling back and recoiling from the 
missiles of death, they warmly returned the fire, remanned 
their oars and giving three cheers, came on most spiritedly. 
The crew of the privateer asked if they should return the 
cheer? "No," replied Captain Reid, "no cheering until 
we have gained a victory." In a moment they succeeded in 
gaining the bow and starboard quarter of the Armstrong. 
The crj^ of the officers commanding the boats was, " Up and 
board, my lads — no quarter!" At the same instant they 
opened a terrific fire with carronades, swivels, blunderbusses 



20 THE BATTLE OF FAYAL ; MIDNIGHT ATTACK. 

and musketry. They were gallantly met by the crew of the 
privateer in their black leather boarding caps, strapped with 
steel, looking like demons, with boarding-pikes, muskets, 
battle-axes, pistols and cutlasses. The vessel soon became 
one broad sheet of tire, the red glare of which strangely con- 
trasted with the brilliant light of the moon, now ridino- hig'h 
in mid-heaven. Shrieks and yells, orders and oaths, amid the 
clang of sabres, were heard on both sides through the din 
and roar of the musketry. Again and again the enemy, led 
by their officers, attempted to gain the decks of the privateer, 
but were repulsed at all times with immense loss. The battle 
now raged with the greatest fury. The Americans fought 
with the desperation of fiends. Making a last desperate 
effort to board, tlie enemy gained the spritsail-yard and bow- 
sprit of the Armstrong, and were pressing their way to her 
decks, when the American sailors, wielding their battle-axes, 
sabres, and pikes with the skill and might of knights of old, 
drove back England's best and bravest men with horrid 
slaughter. The second lieutenant of the Armstrong, Mr. 
Alex. O. Williams, was killed at this moment while gallantly 
leading on Iiis forward division ; and the third lieutenant, 
Mr. Robert Johnson, also fell dangerously wounded. At the 
same instant Captain Reid, who commanded the after divis- 
ion, was engaged beating off two large launches, the men 
and officers of which had succeeded in climbing up the sides 
of the privateer. One of the latter, the first lieutenant of 
the Rota, William Matterface, who commanded the attack, 
had engaged Captain Reid in a hand-to-hand fight with cut- 
lasses, and once or twice came near overpowering him. 
Captain Reid, being left-handed, used his right in firing 
})istols, which the powder boys handed him, while he con- 
tinued to fight with the British lieutenant with his left hand, 
disdaining to shoot down his brave adversary. At last the 
British lieutenant, making a feint, brought down a desperate 



THE BATTLE OF FAYAL ; MIDNIGHT ATTACK. 



21 



blow, which Captain Reid had just time to break the force of, 
cutting the captain slightly across the head and nearly sev- 
erino- his thumb and forefinger. Before the Englishmen 
could recover, Captain Reid struck him down and he fell 
back a corpse into the boat. 

It was at this critical juncture that Captain Reid was in- 
formed of the death ..f his second lieutenant, and that his 
third lieutenant was badly wounded. Having succeeded in 
beating the boats off the quarter, and thus left the only 
olficer^'on the deck, he perceived that the fire had slackened 
on the forecastle. At once rallying the whole of the after 
division, they rushed forward with a shout and opened a fresh 
fire, while he ordered the forward division to heave cold shot 
into the boats and sink them, as those men were out of car- 
tridges. The enemy, appalled with consternation and dismay, 
fell\ack to their boats and retreated, when Captain Reid 
bringing the Long Tom to bear upon them, fired the gun 
himJ'elf (which flew off the carriage), doing fearful destruc- 
tion, and ending in the total defeat of the British. Then it 
was that Captain Reid cried out, " Now is the time to cheer, 
my boys," and three wild, enthusiastic cheers re-echoed over 
the bay from shore to shore. The Americans among the 
crowd on the sea-walls hailed the Armstrong, and asked if 
Captain Reid was safe, and, being answered in the affirmative, 
gave three tremendous cheers in return. 

The scene which now presented itself was one of indescrib- 
able horror. The silvered waters of the bay were crimsoned 
with blood. Dark forms of numerous dead bodies floated 
around on everv side, while the groans and death shrieks 
of the wounded struggling around the boats pierced the very 
air. Many of the boats had been sunk. Two large launches 
belonging to the frigate Rota lay alongside the privateer, 
with two other boats, literally loaded with their own dead. 
In a boat belonging to the Plantagenet all were killed save 



22 THE BATTLE OF FAYAL. 

four. In another boat which had contained fifty souls, but 
one solitary officer escaped, and he was wounded. Four 
boats floated ashore full of dead bodies. Some of the boats 
were left with but a single man, while others had but three 
or four t(^ row them, Tlie termination was nearly a total 
massacre. This action lasted about forty minutes. The 
English force, estimating forty men to a boat, was about five 
hundred and sixty men. The English themselves acknowl- 
edged a loss in this attack of one hundred and twenty killed 
and one hundred and thirty wounded, but it must have been 
far greater. 

The deck of the Armstrong, which was in great confusion, 
and slippery with human gore, was now cleared up, the Long 
Tom re-mounted, and preparations made for a fresh action, 
should the enemy again attack lier. About this time Cap- 
tain Keid received the following note from the American 
consul : — 

Captain Reid, 

Dear Sir : — You have performed a most brilliant action 
in beating off fourteen boats of the British ships in this road. 
They say they will carry the brig, cost what it will, and 
that the English brig will liaul close in to attack you at 
the same time the boats do. My dear fellow, do not use_ 
lessly expose yourself, if again attacked by an overwhelming 
force, but scuttle the brig near the beach and come on shore 
with 3-our brave crew. 

Yours truly, 

J. B. Dabney. 

Two o'clock Tuesday morning, Se[)t. 27, 1814. 

This note was brought on board the Armstrong by Charles 
W. Dabney, a son of the consul, then twenty years of age, 
who afterwards succeeded his father. 



BATTLE WITH THE BRIG CARNATION. 



23 



Captain Reid then went on shore, and after receiving the 
congratulations of the consul, Avas informed that the Gover- 
nor ''liad again written to Commodore Lloyd, remonstrating 
against any further attack, but Lloyd sent for answer that 
he was determined on the capture of the privateer, and that 
if the Governor suffered the Americans to injure her in any 
manner he should consider the place an enemy's port and 
treat it accordingly. Returning on board, Captain Reid 
gave up all hope of saving his vessel, but determined to 
defend her to the last. He accordingly ordered the dead 
and wounded to be taken on shore, and prepared for the 

worst. 

At daylight on the morning of the twenty-seventh, the Car- 
nation was observed under weigh, and stood close in for the 
privateer, when she immediately opened a heavy fire with all 
her force. The crew of the Armstrong, as if supernatural 
spirits, or holding charmed lives, still grimly stood by their 
little bark, returning broadside for broadside with wonder- 
ful effect. Long Tom doing splendid execution. The 
maintopmast of the Carnation soon fell by the board, and 
she became so much cut up in her hull and rigging, and with 
the loss of men, that her guns became silenced and she was 
forced to retire. It was a sublime spectacle, that of the 
little privateer, with but a handful of men, fighting a hope- 
less battle against such tremendous odds, in vindication of 
her rio-hts and her country's honor, with her colors flying m 

reckless defiance. 

Finding all further resistance fruitless. Captain Reid 
scuttled his vessel to prevent her capture, and then, with his 
gallant crew, took to their boats and went on shore. The 
Carnation, soon after, perceiving that the Armstrong was 
deserted, sent two armed boats to seize her, but finding she 
was scuttled, they set her on fire, when she blew up m a blaze 
of o-lory, and thus ended the fate of this famous little craft. 



24 BATTLE WITH THE BRIG CARNATION. 

In the three engagements that occurred with the Arm- 
strong, according to a fair estimate of the whole number 
engaged, of tlie British squadron, their loss was two hundred 
and ten killed, and one hundred and forty wounded, making 
a total of tliree hundred and fifty, of which it will be seen 
a majority Avere killed. The loss of the Armstrong, marvel- 
lous to state, was but two killed, and seven wounded I 

After the burning of the Armstrong, Commodore Lloyd, 
frenzied with disappointment and athirst for revenge, de- 
manded that the Governor should deliver up her crew as 
prisoners of war. The Governor refused, on the ground 
that it w^ould be in violation of his neutrality, when Lloyd 
threatened to send five hundred men on shore to take tliem, 
dead or alive. Thus threatened. Captain Reid and his men, 
wdth their arms, took refuge in an old deserted Gothic con- 
vent, knocked away the draw-bridge, ran up the American 
flag, and bid defiance to the foe, saying, " No surrender until 
captured." The British commodore quailed under this last 
demonstration of American courage, and feared to execute 
his threat. 

The final act of this naval tragical drama w^as the very 
essence and height of patriotic valor and heroism. The 
splendid courage and personal prowess by which Captain 
Reid, his officers and crew, had achieved a glorious victory 
over the immensely superior force of the British squadron, 
was never exceeded by the exploits in the olden days of 
romantic chivalry, as narrated by Washington Irving in his 
" Conquest of Granada." Yet all this time he was ignorant 
that he had performed one of the grandest feats of modern 
or ancient warfare on tlie seas ; that by his undaunted 
courage in defeating and disabling the British squadron he 
had saved Louisiana from England's conquest. He was only 
conscious that he had done his dut}^ in vindicating the honor 
of his country, and defending untarnished the sovereignty of 



THE BATTLE OF FAYAL. 



25 



the American flag. Tliis alone induced him and his noble 
crew to peril their lives against such fearful odds, and to 
perform such prodigies of valor ! 

That no charge of national prejudice and exaggeration of 
this wonderful conflict may be made, we give the following 
vivid account by an English gentleman, who was an eye- 
witness of the scene, in a letter to William Cobbett, Esq., 
at London, dated Fayal, fifteenth of October, 1814, and pub- 
lished in Cobbetfs Weekly Begister, Dec. 10, 1814. The 
writer in giving the number of British killed at over one 
hundred and twenty, and the wounded at ninety in the mid- 
night attack, does not include the loss in the first and last 
en'oao-ement. After mentioning tlie arrival of the Arm- 
strong and the squadron, he says : 

" The authorities all considered the American privateer 
perfectly secure, and that His Majesty's ofiicers were too 
Avell acquainted with the respect due to a neutral port to 
molest her ; but, to the great surprise of everyone, about 
nine in the evening four boats were despatched, armed and 
manned, from His Majesty's ships, for the purpose of cutting 
her out. It being about full moon, the night perfectly clear 
and calm, we could see every movement made. The boats 
approached with rapidity toward her, when, it appears the 
captain of the privateer hailed them, and told them to keep 
off, several times. They, notwithstanding, pushed on, and 
were in the act of boarding before any defence was made by 
the privateer. A warm contest ensued on both sides. The 
boats were finally repulsed with great loss. 

" After the first attack all the inhabitants were gathered 
about the walls, expecting a renewal of the fight. The 
American, now calculating on a very superior force^ being 
sent, cut his cables, and rowed the privateer within half 
cable's length of the fort, where he moored her, head and 



26 



A BRITISH ACCOUNT. 



stern. At midnight fourteen launches were discovered to be 
coming in rotation for the purpose. When they got Avithin 
gunshot a tremendous and effectual discharge was made fi'om 
the privateer, which threw tlie boats into confusion. They 
now returned a spirited lire, but the privateer kept up so 
continual a discharge it was almost impossible for the boats 
to make any progress. They finally succeeded, after im- 
mense loss, to get alongside of her, and attempted to board 
at every quarter, cheered by the officers with a shout of 
' No quarter,' which we could distinctly hear, as well as 
their shrieks and cries. The termination was near about a 
total massacre. Three of the boats were sunk, and but one 
poor solitary officer escaped death in a boat that contained 
fifty souls. He was wounded. The Americans fought wath 
great firmness. Some of the boats were left without a single 
man to row them ; others with three and four. The most 
that any one returned with was about ten. Several boats 
floated ashore full of dead bodies. 

"With great reluctance I state that they were manned with 
picked men, and commanded by the first, second, third, and 
fourth lieutenants of the Plantagenet ; first, second, third, 
and fourth ditto of the frigate, and the first officer of the 
brig ; together with a great number of midshipmen. Our 
whole force exceeded four hundred men. But three officers 
escaped, two of whom are wounded. This bloody and un- 
fortunate contest lasted about forty minutes. Nothing more 
was attempted until daylight next moniing, when tlie 
Carnation liauled in alongside and engaged her. Tlie priva- 
teer still continued to make a most gallant defence. These 
veterans reminded me of Lawrence's dying words, of tlie 
Chesapeake. ' Don't give up the ship.' The Carnation lost 
one of her topmasts and her yards were shot away. She was 
much cut up in her rigging and received several shots in her 
hull. This obliged her to haul off to repair, and to cease firing. 



THE FIGURE-HEAD OF THE ARMSTRONG. 27 

'' The Americans now finding their principal gun, Long 
Tom, and several others dismounted, deemed it folly to 
think of saving her against so superior a force. They there- 
fore scuttled her and went ashore. Two boats' crews were 
soon after despatched from our vessels, which went on board, 
took out some provisions, and set her on fire. For three days 
after we were employed in Ijurying the dead that washed on 
shore in the surf. Tlie number of British killed exceeds one 
hundred and twenty, and ninety wounded. After burning 
the privateer. Commodore Lloyd made a demand on the 
Governor to deliver up the Americans as his prisoners, which 
the Governor refused. He threatened to send five hundred 
men on shore and take them by force. The Americans 
immediately retired, with their arms, to an old Gothic con- 
vent, knocked away the adjoining draw-bridge, and determined 
to defend themselves to the last. The Commodore, however, 
thought better than to send his men. . . . The squadron Avas 
detained ten days at Fayal repairing damages and in burying 
their dead. Two sloops-of-war, the Thais and Calypso, which 
arrived two days afterwards, were sent back to England with 

their wounded. 

" Being an eye-witness to this transaction, I have given you 

a correct statement as it occurred. 

With respect, I am, etc., 

H. K. F." 

THE FIGURE-HEAD OF THE AimSTRONG. 

At the time the Armstrong was scuttled, and the crew 
were deserting their gallant craft, some of the sailors cried 
out, " We must save the ' Old General,' lads," as they called 
the figure-head, for which it seems they had a great affection. 
No somier said, than with their battle-axes they severed from 
the bow the grim-looking bust of the " Old General," which 



28 INTERESTING INCIDENTS. 

had been a silent witness of their victory, and bore it in tri- 
umph to the shore. 

This quaint specimen of the ship-carver's art of the days 
bygone, which once ranked equal to the sculjDtor's, w^as placed 
over the gates leading to the grand mansion of the American 
consul. For years it was decorated eveiy Fourth of July 
by the Dabneys, with flowers and the American flag. It 
was called by the Portuguese peasantry '^ El Santo Ameri- 
cano," the American Saint, who never failed to cross them- 
selves as they passed by it. 

In later years, the American consul, Mr. Charles B. 
Dabney, son of John B. Dabney, presented this venerable 
relic to the Naval Lyceum, at Boston, Mass., where it now 
remains in a good state of preservation. 

INTERESTING INCIDENTS. 

INTERVIEW OF BRITISH OFFICERS WITH CAPTAIN REID. 

After it became evident that Commodore Lloyd did not 
intend to execute his threat to take Captain Reid and his 
crew prisoners, they left their quarters in the old convent 
and returned to the town of Horta. 

Several British officers, Avho had come ashore to attend the 
burial of their deceased comrades, sent a note to Captain 
Reid, who was then staying at the house of Consul Dabney, 
with the request that he would meet them at the British 
consul's. 

Ml-. Dabney, who was of the opinion that it was only a 
ruse to arrest Captain Reid or bring about a duel, counselled 
him not to go. But Reid said he did not apprehend any in- 
dignity, and not to go would l)e treating them with dis- 
courtesy. He accordingly dressed in full uniform, with sash 
and sabre, and as he approached the quarters of the British 
consul he observed a number of British ofiicers standing in 



INTERESTING INCIDENTS. 



29 



front of the house, who recognizing him, lifted their caps and 
gave him a cheer, to the great surprise of Captain Reid. 

On being invited to enter the house, and after the compli- 
ments of the day were passed, one of the lieutenants said, 
^^ We have desired the pleasure of your company. Captain, in 
order to settle a question among ourselves, as to whether or 
not you and your crew wore steel shirts of mail during the 
battle? For both our men and officers are confident that 
they saw our bullets strike your crew and yourself frequently, 
and they glanced off like hail ! *' 

Captain Reid laughed at this charge, and replied, " Why, 
gentlemen, I can assure you that the only steel armor that 
my officers and men wore was their cutlasses and steel- 
strapped helmets. As for myself, I admit that your bullets 
tickled my ears so often that I was almost afraid to turn my 
head. But you saw I was in my shirt sleeves, and I pledge 
you, on the honor of a sailor, that the only shirt of mail I 
wore was a linen sJiirt, which I don't deny was a shirt of a 
maU!'' A hearty laugh followed, which ended in several 
bottles of wine being opened and a jolly time. 

This reception by the British officers of their deadly foe 
was certainly remarkable under the circumstances, and proved 
that by the laws of hospitality British honor was inviolable. 

GENERAL JACKSON'S OPINION. 

This remarkable battle was the last fought upon the seas 
in the war with England, while that of New Orleans was the 
last fought upon the land ; though so widely apart, the chain 
of destiny has linked them close together. When General 
Jackson afterwards learned that a portion of the fleet which 
was engaged in the assault upon New Orleans was composed 
of the same vessels which attacked the Armstrong, he ex- 
pressed the opinion that but for the determined bravery of 



30 INTERESTING INCIDENTS. 

Caj)tain Reid in resisting the enemy, he (Jackson) would 
never liave fought the battle of New Orleans, l^ut that, most 
probabl}-, the l)attle ground would have been nearer the 
shores of his own State. 

RETRIBUTION. 

A most singular case of retribution connected with the 
burning of Washington City and the battle of New Orleans 
was related Ijy the late Conmiodore Ap Catesby Jones. It 
seems that Lieutenant G. Pratt, of her Britannic Majesty's 
frigate Seahorse, led a storming party of marines at Wash- 
ington, and in looking up at the monument erected to our 
naval officers at Tripoli, then at the west front of the 
Capitol, which represented the Muse of History recording 
with a pen the brave deeds of our fallen heroes, Pratt with 
his sword broke the hand and took out the pen as a trophy, 
saying, " The Muse of History needed no pen to record the 
deeds of runaway cowards ! " Afterwards, Catesby Jones, 
then a lieutenant in command of our gunboats on Lake 
Pontchartrain during the attack on New Orleans, came in 
conflict with some British boats commanded by Lieutenant 
Pratt, whom Jones killed in the conflict with his own sword, 
but was overpowered, however, and taken prisoner. On 
being removed to the ship of Lieutenant Pratt, the British 
officers showed Jones the identical marble pen which Pratt 
had kept as a trophy. This statue is now at the Naval 
Academy, Annapolis, Md. 

A CONTRAST. 

To show the unparalleled victor}^ of the battle of the 
Armstrong it is stated that in the great naval engagement 
off Cape Vincent in 1797, between a Spanish fleet of twenty- 



HOW NEW ORLEANS WAS SAVED. 31 

seven ships-of-the-line and twelve frigates, and a British 
squadron of fifteen ships-of-the-line and seven frigates and 
two sloops-of-war, the British acknowledged a loss of seventy- 
three killed and two hundred and twenty-three wounded, 
making a total of two hundred and ninety-six. Yet in this 
tremendous conflict, which lasted over six hours, the Eno-lish 
did not lose as many men as they did in trying to capture a 
little brig of only seven guns ! Admiral Jervis, who com- 
manded the British fleet, having defeated the Spaniards, was 
created an earl by the king of England, and granted a pen- 
sion of twenty-five thousand dollars a year ; while Captain 
Reid and his men were granted the privilege of prosecuting 
their claim for their losses before Congress for over half a 
century, and died without receiving one cent of recompense, 
thus proving the ingratitude of republics. 

Tlie news of the Battle of Fayal reached the United States 
about the middle of November, 1814 ; the reverses which had 
attended our arms on land, the bankrupt condition of the 
Government, and the burning of our national capital, had 
thrown a general gloom and despondency over the country. 
Under these circumstances, the news of the battle of the Arm- 
strong and the extraordinary victory sent a thrill of joy and 
enthusiasm through the hearts of the American people. But 
our Government was as ignorant as Captain Reid at the time, 
that the gallant defence of the little brig Armstrong was to 
be the means of saving Louisiana from becoming ano-ther 
empire of India, by the grasp of England, and winning for 
General Jackson the highest pinnacle of fame, glorj^, and 
civic honors, by the success of his great victory at New 
Orleans. 

All was ready at Jamaica. The troopships and transports 
with twelve thousand veterans, under Generals Packenham 
and Keene, were eager for the fray. Admiral Sir Thomas 
Cochrane, as lie paced the deck of his flagship, was impa- 






32 TRIBUTE OF SEXATOES VOOIIHEES AND EVARTS. 

tiently awaiting the arrival of Lloyd's squadron. How could 
lie know that, when his fleet was sailing past the Capes of the 
Chesapeake, on the sixth of October, Lloyd was at that very 
time at Fayal burying his dead and repairing damages, caus- 
ing the delay of his squadron for ten or twelve days ? Fhi- 
ally, when Lloyd's squadron arrived in Negril Bay in its 
crippled condition, lie was loaded witli bitter reproaches by 
Cochrane, Packenham, and Keene, and a further detention of 
a week followed. 

At this time. General Jackson's headquarters were at 
Mobile. On the seventh of November he had driven the 
British forces from the neutral Spanish town of Pensacola, 
and on his return to Mobile had learned of the suspected 
designs of the British lieet against New Orleans. By a 
forced march of his two thousand Tennessee militia, he 
arrived at New Orleans on the second day of December. 
Cochrane's fleet arrived at Lake Borgne on the sixth of 
December, jnst four t7«^s afterwards. New Orleans Avas then 
utterly defenceless. It is evident that if Cochrane's fleet 
had arrived lifteen days sooner, the period of its delay, say the 
twentieth of Novemlier, the British troops could have taken 
possession of New Orleans before any possible defence could 
have been made. And even as it was. General Jackson had 
barely time to check the enemy by the affair of the twenty- 
third of December. 

On the occasion of a resolution in the United States 
Senate, in 1890, to strike a gold medal in commemoration of 
the services of Captain Keid, whose battle sabre was offei'ed 
by his son as a free gift to the United States, the Honorable 
Senator Daniel W. Voorhees, in a speech of thrilling elo- 
quence, said : 

" But for the terrific injury inflicted on Lloyd's forces at 
Fayal, the British would have reached New Orleans as soon, 



TRIBUTE OF SENATORS VOORHEES AND EVARTS. 33 

if not much sooner than General Jackson. Had this happened 
that city would have fallen without a blow. . . . 

"It is my simple task on this occasion to show that the 
sword now offered for the acceptance of the Government so 
guarded the passage-ways of the ocean and so crippled and 
retarded the enemy, that time was gained by which General 
Jackson prepared for and won the immortal victory at New 
Orleans. No such battle would have been fought, no such 
victory won, but for the stubborn and invincible courage of 
Captain Reid and his crew at Fayal." 

The Hon. William M. Evarts, Senator from New York, 
followed in this glowing tribute to Captain Reid : 

" Mr. President, I have no need to add anything to the 
eloquent homage paid to the great fame of Captain Reid. 
Every word that the Senator from Indiana [Mr. Voorhees] 
has said is as truthful as it was eloquent. . . . The sword is 
offered us and the matter brought thus to our attention, and 
we, with shame and remorse, if I do not use too strong words, 
feel that it has been a shame and disgrace to the people of 
this country that a medal has never been struck in lionor of 
an event so gloiious to the prowess not only of our great 
captain in this battle, but honorable to human nature. 

" There is not to be found in the classics or in modern 
history any stronger instance of personal prowess performed 
in modern times, that used to be done under the old warfare 
of personal prowess. But for Captain Reid that fight would 
not have been made ; and but for Captain Reid that battle 
would not have been won. So strong is this simile under 
the most diverse circumstances, that it may be said of 
Captain Reid as was said of Horatius at the bridge : ' If he 
had not kept the bridge, who would have saved the town ? ' 
And Rome was ' the town,' and ' the bridge ' was across 



34 



LETTER OF GOVEENOII SHELBY 



the Tiber. This battle in the port of Fayal was the bridge 
that lie kept that saved the town of New Orleans, and saved 
the honor of the country." 

The Honorable Senator from Ohio [Mr. John Sherman] 
antagonized this resolution, and by his opposition it went 
over, and was never acted upon. 



LETTER OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. 

The following letter from that distinguished veteran 
warrior and statesmen. Governor Isaac Shelby, of Kentucky, 
to Captain Reid, illustrates the enthusiasm which prevailed 
throughout the West, on the news being received of the 
battle of the Armstrong : 

"Frankfort, Ky., May 8, 1815. 

Sir : — The return of peace to our country upon honorable 
terms, with a national character exalted in an eminent degree, 
affords us leisure to review the various conflicts in which 
that character has been developed. 

"■ On the ocean, where we had most to dread, we have found 
a rich harvest of glory ; and the American tars have secured 
to themselves the admiration of the world. To the officers 
and crews of our public vessels much is due, and the nation, 
through its public functionaries and in other forms, has fully 
demonstrated its gratitude. We are not less indebted to the 
officers and crews of our private armed vessels. Listances of 
talent, skill, discipline, and of a determined, unconquerable 
bravery have been manifested by our privateersmen. When 
their situations might have presented to ordinary minds 
sufficient inducement for avoiding the contest, nothing but a 
generous and noble patriotism could have led to such deeds. 
I have no reason to believe that the nation at large is not 



LETTER OF GOVERNOR SHELBY. 35 

fully impressed with the gratitude due to this class of our 
heroes. But I have regretted that there have been so iew 
demonstrations of that sentiment; you will, therefore, 
although a stranger to you, permit me, for myself individually 
and on behalf of the State over which I have the honor to 
preside, to assure you that the conduct of yourself and of 
your officers and crew in defence of the General Armstrong 
in the port of Fayal merits the first applause of the nation, 
and is duly appreciated by our citizens. 

" No one conflict during the war has placed the American 
character in so proud a view. 

" The baseness of the attack in a neutral port, the over- 
whelming force of the assailants, the small prospect of success 
to yourself and crew, and the unparalleled disparity of loss, 
demonstrated a combination of talents, skill, and heroism 
seldom equalled and never surpassed. I trust our Govern- 
ment will fully appreciate j^our services. 

" May you, your officers and crew, long live to enjoy the 
laurels you so nobly won. 

" I have the honor to be, with high consideration of respect 
and esteem, your most obedient, humble servant, 

Isaac Shelby. 

Captain Samuel C. Reid, late Commander of the United 
States Privateer General Armstrong." 

These exalted and noble sentiments will be the more 
appreciated when it is recalled that Governor Shelby, as an 
officer of the Revolutionary War, greatly distinguished him- 
self at the battle of King's Mountain, in October, 1780, and 
afterwards led his brave Kentuckians, in 1813, against his 
old enemy in the campaign of the Northwest, with General 
Harrison. He was born in Maryland, in 1750, and twice 
served as Governor of Kentucky. 



36 INCIDENTS OF THE TREATY OF GHENT. 

INCIDENTS OF THE TREATY OF GHENT. 

In connection with the failure of Lord Castlereagh's great 
expedition, and the circumstances which led to it, it will be 
interesting to note that the British Government, during the 
year 1813, had shown a disposition for a reconciliation and 
for peace. The Prince Regent was in favor of a cessation of 
hostilities. But the wily Castlereagh had over-ruled him in 
order to carry out his great scheme of conquest. Russia had 
previously offered to act as mediator, but the offer was 
rejected by the British Ministry. 

Finally, early in January, 1814, Commissioners were ap- 
pointed b}^ the two powers to negotiate a treaty of peace. 
The Ministry kept the American Commissioners waiting 
month after month by putting them off on dilatory pleas, 
' first proposing one place and then another for tlie negotia- 
tions. In this way, after six months' delay, the Commis- 
sioners of the two governments met at Ghent, in Belgium, 
in August, 1814, at which time Cochrane's fleet was sailing 
up the Potomac for the attack on Washington ! 

Every resort was made to procrastinate and protract the 
sessions of the Commission in order to gain time, which is 
shown by the fact that the treaty was not finally concluded 
until the twenty-fourth of December, 1814, the night previous 
to which General Jackson had driven back General Keene's 
troops who were marching on New Orleans, and as we have 
seen, Castlereagh was expecting that it had already fallen ! 

About the twenty-fifth of October, after the rejoicing by 
the British Ministry over the news of the burning of Wash- 
ington had hardly subsided, the British sloops-of-war Thais 
and Calypso had arrived, loaded with their wounded from 
the battle between the Armstrong and Lloyd's squadron, and 
the details of their dead buried at Fayal. A gloom of sor- 
row spread over England and filled the land with grief. 



INCIDENTS OF THE TEE AT Y OF GHENT. 37 

Whether this news had any effect on the British Commis- 
sion, or daunted the hopes of Lord Castlereagh, can easily be 
conjectured. As to the question, whether the English Gov- 
ernment would have stood by the treaty in good faith or not, in 
case of the conquest of Louisiana, it is a matter of broad spec- 
ulation. The precedents of the faithlessness and treachery 
of England in violating^ treaties and the laws of nations 
were numerous, and there was but little confidence to be put 
in her diplomatic negotiations. It is most remarkable that 
the subject of the right of search and impressment of our 
seamen, the chief cause of the war, were passed over in the 
Tretfty of Ghent without any stipulation whatever, espe- 
cially as the treaty with England, made in 1806, was ignored 
and rejected by President Jefferson, because the right of 
search and impressment were not fully disavowed, and he 
became so indignant that he refused to submit it to the 
Senate. 

Mr.. Clay, one of the Commissioners of the tieaty of 
Ghent, had but little faith in the honor of the British Gov- 
ernment, knowing that its treaty obligations were never 
respected whenever conflicting with its interest and policy. 
He is said to have expressed the belief that, if General Jack- 
son had been defeated at New Orleans, with the Mississippi 
River in possession of the British fleet, England would no 
more have hesitated to nullify the Treaty of Ghent than she 
did the Treaty of Amiens with Bonaparte, which obligated 
her to withdraw her troops from and give up the island of 
Malta to France. It is fair to presume, therefore, from the 
studied design and great effort that England made for the 
conquest of Louisiana, that if the British flag had ever once 
floated over New Orleans it would never have been hauled 
down without a struofale. Under these circumstances, it is 
not arrogating too much praise to Captain Reid and his 
heroic crew to give them the credit of not only having 



(^ 



\ 



38 LIFE OF CAPTAIN SAMUEL C. REID. 

struck the fatal blow that effected the hopeless ruhi of the 
o-rand scheme of the British Ministry, but saved the United 
States Government from a terrible disaster, and the country 
from an incalculable calamity. 

SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN SAMUEL 

CHESTER REID. 

There are but few men whose lives, in a career of over 
threescore and ten, have been more distinguished for the 
historical and romantic incidents which have attended them 
than that of Captain Samuel Chester Reid, the late heroic 
commander of the United States private-armed brig-of-war 
General Armstrong. The preceding pages have given the 
details of a battle that immortalized his name and called 
forth the admii'ation of the world. 

Captain Reid was highly honored on his return to the 
United States. He arrived at Amelia Island in a Portuguese 
brig from Fayal with his officers and crew, on the fifteenth 
of Novembei-, 181-1, and proceeded thence to St. Mary's, Fla. 
He received ovations all the way from Savannah to New 
York. At Richmond, Va., the members of the Legislature 
gave him a dinner, at which Gov. W. C. Nichols, Mr. 
Stevenson, Speaker of the House, Mr. William Wirt, and 
others were present. The legislature of his own State, New 
York, in April, 1815, passed resolutions of thanks to Captain 
Reid, liis officers and crew "for their intrepid valor in thus 
gloriously maintaining the honor of the American flag," and 
voted him a gold sword. The owners of the General Arm- 
strong and his fellow-citizens of New York City presented 
to Captain Reid an elegant service of silver plate, " as a 
mark of the high sense entertained for his distinguished skill 
and valor "in the defence of the Armstrong. 

Captain Reid was not only known as the valorous com- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SAMUEL C. REID. 



39 






mancler of the Armstrong ; he was equally conspicuous in de- 
voting his talents and genius to the benefit and service of his 
country. He designed the present form of the United States 
flag as adopted by Congress in 1818, and which was first 
hoisted on the Capitol on the thirteenth of April of that year. 
In 1821, he invented and erected the first marine telegraph 
between the Highlands of the Neversink on Staten Island, 
and the Battery at New York City. He also designed and 
published a national code of signals for all vessels belonging 
to the United States. He reorganized and perfected regula- 
tions for governing the pilots of the port of New York, and 
had the pilot boats numbered. Through his efforts and in- 
stigation he caused the Government to establish a lightship 
off Sandy Hook, the first ever constructed. In 1826 he in- 
vented a new system of land telegraphs, by means of which 
he satisfactorily demonstrated that a message could be sent 
from Washington city to New Orleans in two hours. A bill 
was before Congress for its adoption, when Morse's discovery 
superseded it. He likewise instituted and organized the 
Shipmasters' and Marine Society of New York, for the im- 
provement of sea captains, and the support of their widows 
and children, and in many ways devoted himself to the cause 
of education, art, and science. 

On the death of Captain Reid, twenty-eighth of January, 
1861, the New York Herald characterized the battle of 
the Armstrong as being - The Thermopylae of the ocean," 
and in mentioning his services to his country, said : 

" They are, aside from the romantic personal interest which 
hangs about them, among the most important events in the 
history of our nation. Reid was indeed a man of rare com- 
binations, possessing great genius and talent, the courage of 
a lion, the adventurous spirit of a crusader, the taste of a 
poet, and the tenderness of a woman. He belonged to that 



40 GENEALOGY OF CAPTAIN REID. 

old school of patriots of whom Paul Jones was the first and 
himself the last." 

Captain Reid was born in the town of Norwich, State of 
Connecticut, on the twenty-fifth of August, 1783, the year 
of peace, just after the throes of the Revolution. He was the 
second and only surviving son of Lieutenant John Reid of 
the British navy, who was captured at New London, Conn., 
in October, 1778, while in command of a night-boat expedition 
sent out from the British squadron, under Admiral Hotham, 
which was then ravaging the coast. Lieutenant Reid was a 
son of Lord John Reid, of Glasgow, Scotland, and a lineal 
descendant of Henry Reid, Earl of Orkney, and Lord High 
Admiral to Robert III. (Bruce), King of Scotland, in 1393. 
His great-grandson was William Reid, of Aikenhead, county 
of Clackmannan, whose son, Robert Reid, became Bishop of 
Orkney in 1543, and these were the progenitors of Lieutenant 
John Reid, the father of Capt. Samuel Chester Reid. 

During the time Lieutenant Reid was a prisoner and held 
as hostage, he resigned his commission under George HI., and 
espoused the American cause. In February, 1781, he mar- 
ried Miss Rebecca Chester, of Norwich, by whom he had but 
two sons, the eldest of which died young, leaving Samuel 
Chester Reid the only child. Miss Chester was a descendant of 
the fourth generation of Captain Samuel Chester, formerly an 
officer of the British navy, who, in 1662, emigrated to Con- 
necticut and settled in New London. He was a son of Sir 
Robert Chester, wlio was knighted by James I., in 1603, and 
was a direct descendant of the Earls of Chester, throug-h 
whom he was collaterally connected with Robert I. (Bruce), 
King of Scotland.^ John, the son of Captain Samuel Chester, 
was the great-grandfather of Rebecca, and in 1685 was one 
of the magistrates of the upper house of the assembly of the 
colony of Connecticut. His son, the second John Chester, 



i *--.^ 







XI 






f 

s 



2; 






o 






'■J 



HISTORY OF LONG TOM. 41 

succeeded his father as magistrate in 1747, and who was the 
grandfather of Miss Chester. His son, the third John Chester, 
served at Bunker Hill and the Battle of Lexing-ton in 1775, 
and was a colonel in Brigadier-General Wadsworth's Con- 
necticut brigade. He was a delegate to the Connecticut 
Convention in January, 1788, which ratified the Constitution 
of the United States. He was the father of Rebecca Chester, 
who was the mother of Captain Samuel Chester Reid. 

Captain Reid, following the inherited vocation of his fore- 
fathers, went to sea from New York, at the early age of 
eleven, on a voyage to the West Indies. He was captured 
by a French privateer, and carried into Basseterre, Guade- 
loupe, where he Avas confined for six months. He subse- 
quently served as acting midshipman on the sloop-of-war 
Baltimore with Commodore Thomas Truxton, who com- 
manded the West India squadron. He commanded tlie brig 
Merchant, of New York, when only twenty years of age. 

Captain Reid married, at New York City, on the eighth of 
June, 1813, Mary, daughter of Captain Nathan Jennings, of 
Willington, Conn., Avho volunteered as private at the Battle 
of Lexington, April, 1775. He afterwards enlisted and 
served in Captain Willes's fifth company of General Spencer's 
brigade. He crossed the Delaware Avith General Washing- 
ton, and commanded a company at the Battle of Trenton, 
twenty-sixth of December, 1776, being distinguished for 
gallant services on the field. 

HISTORY OF THE GUN "LONG TOM" OF THE 

UNITED STATES PRIVATE-ARMED BRIG- 

OF-WAR GENERAL ARMSTRONG. 

The following extraordinary and romantic history of this 
gun was furnished by Commander A. S. Crowninshield, of 
the United States Navy. 



42 HISTORY OF LONG TOM. 

In the month of October, 1798, the French line of battle- 
ship Hoche, of eighty-four guns, was captured by a British 
squadron, commanded by Sir John B. Warren (afterwards 
well known on our coast), and sent into an English port 
where her armament was offered for sale. Colonel Ephraim 
Bo wen, of Providence, and Mr. John B. Murray, of New 
York, who were in England at the time, purchased her main 
battery of forty-two pounder cannons on speculation, and 
shipped them to New York. 

There they were sold to the United States Government, to 
be mounted in the harbor, and General Ebenezer Stevens 
was appointed to inspect theni. He rejected one gun, in 
consequence of a severe indentation on the muzzle, that 
somewhat affected the bore, which, however, was afterwards 
reamed out by the owners, and the gun was retained by them. 

In 1804, Mr. Murray, in conjunction with others, entered 
into a contract with the Emperor of Hayti for a supply of 
munitions of war, to carry on his conflict with France. 
These gentlemen fitted out three vessels, all of which were 
armed for the protection of that island against the French. 
Among them was the " Samson," Captain Palmer, a large 
ship carrying fourteen guns, with this rejected forty-two- 
pounder mounted amidships on a pivot. 

Its first service was the carrying away of a foremast of a 
large French privateer, which gave chase to the little squad- 
ron, and thus disabled her from further pursuit. The contract 
with Hayti having been completed and the little fleet dis- 
posed of, Mr. Murray purchased the Samson, which vessel he 
forthwith disarmed for the merchant service. 

This was in 1807, when the "• big gun " being dismounted 
was laid on tlie bulkhead in South Street, New York City, 
where it remained for several years in that situation, when it 
was finally transferred to the foundry of Robert McQueen in 
Duane Street, in view of being recast in old metal. While 



HISTORY OF LONG TOM. 43 

there, the War of 1812 was declared, and New York was 
alive Avith preparations for fitting ont privateers. Among 
them was the celebrated brig General Armstrong, commanded 
by Captain Samuel Chester Reid, which vessel was built by 
Adam and Noah Brown, the eminent shipbuilders, who 
purchased the " big gun " at the price of two hundred and 
fifty dollars. 

It was mounted on a pivot amidships, and remained there 
through her cruises until she was finally blockaded in the bay 
of Fayal, one of the Azore islands belonging to Portugal, in 
September, 1814, by a large British squadron, whose com- 
mander, in violation of the laws of neutrality and all rules of 
war, attempted her capture. The gun, Long Tom, was 
brought to bear with terrible execution against this powerful 
squadron, resulting in their defeat and a loss of over three 
hundred of their officers and men. The superior forces of 
the British squadron finally prevailed, so far as to cause the 
destruction of the Armstrong, which after being scuttled on 
the beach and abandoned by her crew, the British set her on 
fire, when she became a total wreck. 

Long Tom was afterwards fished up from its watery grave, 
and was mounted in the Castle of Santa Cruz, at Fayal, 
where it had been exhibited as a relic of this wonderful 
battle for the past seventy-eight years, before it was tran- 
shipped back again to New York. It is a singular coinci- 
dence that this gun should have remained at Fayal just the 
period of Captain Reid's life, who died at the age of seventy- 
eight. 

The return of the gun to the United States was effected 
through the means of Colonel Sam C. Reid, the son of the 
commander of the Armstrong, who visited Fayal in 1890, 
with a view of obtaining a sketch of the battle ground and 
the liarbor and bay, for his work on the Memoirs of his 
father. He was conducted to the Castle of Santa Cruz by 



44 HISTOllY OF LONG TOM. 

Mr. Samuel W. Dabney, then the United States consul at 

Fayal, and was introduced to Long Tom, which had caused || 

so much fame and celebrity. 

In September, 1891, Colonel Reid addressed a letter to 
President Harrison requesting our minister at Lisbon, Gen- 
eral Geo. S. Batcheller, l)e instructed to make an amicable 
demand for the transfer of this gun to our Government. To 
this request the King of Portugal, Don Carlos L, most gra- 
ciously consented, and the transfer of the gun to the Ameri- 
can Minister was made at Fayal on the twelfth of May, 
1892, with great ceremony by a commission of the Portu- 
guese military officers, and in the presence of the trooj^s of 
the garrison. 

The following is a translated copy of the official report 
deposited in the Portuguese military arcliives at Lisbon : 

Headquartees of the Military Coisoiander 
OF the Western Azores, Horta, 

Twelfth of May, 1892. 

Record of the delivery of the forty-two-pounder. Long Tom, 
now being in the Castle of Santa Cruz, described l)v the let- 
ters, F. L. S. P. 17 C, to liis Excellency, Mr. Batcheller, 
Minister of the United States of North America, in Portugal. 

On the twelfth day of the month of May, 1892, at twelve 
o'clock in the day, there assembled at the Secretariate of the 
Military Commander of tlie Western Azores, a commission 
composed of the following officers: Francisco Alfonso da 
Costa Chaves e Mello, Captain of the Eleventh Regiment of 
Chasseurs ; Bernardo Pereira de Vasconcellos, First Lieuten- 
ant of the Second Company of the Garrison Artillerymen ; 
and Jose Ignacio da Silva, ensiq-n in the Eleventh Regiment 
of Chasseurs, to proceed to deliver tlie forty-two-pounder. 
Long Tom, to his Excellency, Mr. Batcheller, Minister of the 



HISTORY OF LONG TOM. 



45 



United States of North America, in Portugal, who is present 
at this Secretariate. 

His Excellency having expressed a desire that the delivery 
should be made immediately, the Commission proceeded to 
the Castle of Santa Cruz, in this town of Horta, and there in 
the presence of their Excellencies, Jose Estanislau Ventura, 
Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry, and Military Commander of 
the Western Azores ; Lewis Dexter, Consul of the United 
States of America, in this Island; Francisco da Nazareth 
Vicira, Lieutenant and Sheriff; and Alfredo de Sampaio 
Leite, Ensign in the Eleventh Regiment of Chasseurs, was 
recognized the gun F. L. S. P. 17 C, by his Excellency the 
Minister referred to, as being the forty-two-pounder, " Long 
Tom," wherefore it was delivered to him, and at the same 
time this record was drawn up which is signed by his Ex- 
cellency Mr. Batcheller, and by the members of the Commis- 
sion : 

GEORGE S. BATCHELLER, 

Minister of the United States of America. 

FRANCISCO ALFONSO da COSTA CHAVES e MELLO, 

Captain of the JEleventh Eegiment of Chasseurs. 

BERN ADO PEREIRO de VASCONCELLOS, 

First Lieutenant of the Second Company of 
Artillerymen of the Garrison. 

JOSE IGNACIO DE SILVA, 

Ensign of the Eleventh Regiment of Chasseurs. 

Executed in due form. Headquarters of Military Commander 
of the Western Azores, Horta, twelfth of May, 1892. 

JOSE ESTANISLAU VENTURA, 

Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry. 

It is but justice to say that great credit is due to General 
Batcheller for his patriotic zeal and diplomatic energy m 



46 THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES. 

obtaining the consent of the Portuguese Government to 
deliver up Long Tom. It was the intention of the Secretary 
of the Navy, Hon. B. F. Tracy, to send a ship-of-war to 
Fayal for the gun, but as no vessel was available at the 
time, Messrs. Bensaude & Co., the enterprising owners of the 
Insular Navigation Steamship Company, of Lisbon, which 
runs monthly from Lisbon via the Azores to New Yoik, 
generously offered to bring it over free of charge, which 
offer Avas accepted by our Government. The gun was 
shipped from Fayal on the eighth of April, on the splendid 
steamship '^ Vega," Captain Da Rossa, which arrived at New 
York on the night of the eighteenth of April, 1893. 

The return of this famous gun to America, after its 
seclusion of over three quarters of a century in the ancient 
Castle of Santa Cruz, has revived the historic glor}' of its 
brilliant exploits, and created the greatest public interest. 

At the request of that gallant, patriotic naval officer, 
Commodore Richard W. Meade, whose genius and enterprise 
designed the celebrated model battleship Illinois, at Chicago, 
this gun, on its arrival at New York, was sent to the Expo- 
sition as one of the naval exhiljits, together with the portrait 
and battle sabre of Captain Re id. 

THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES. — ITS 

ORIGIN AND HISTORY. ITS PRESENT 

FORM DESIGNED BY CAPTAIN 

SAMUEL CHESTER REID. 

It is important that every American citizen should become 
familiar with the history of the flag of his country. The fol- 
lowinaf account is from the most authentic historical records : 

Tlie American flao- in 1775 was "the British union with 
the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew in a red field," and 
was displayed at New York on a libert,y pole with the inscrip- 



THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 

tion, " George Rex and the Liberties of America." It is a 
little singular that the first flag adopted as our national ensign 
by our ships of war consisted of horizontal stripes with the 
British union still retained in a canton, but was afterwards 
replaced by the stars on a blue field. 

There is no question of the fact that the origin of our 
national flag was taken from the coat of arms of the Wash- 
ino-ton family, which was constituted of stars and bars. 
In 1776 the construction of the first national standard with 
the stars and stripes took place in Philadelphia under the 
personal direction of General Washington and a committee 
of the old Continental Congress. The first flags bore twelve 
stars in a circle, as then only twelve States had ratified the 
Articles of Confederation. On June 14, 1777, Congress 
resolved that "the flag of the United States" be thirteen 
stripes, alternate white and red, and the union be thirteen 
white stars in a blue field. 

On January 13, 1794, after two new States had been 
admitted. Congress passed an act that the stripes and stars be 
increased to fifteen each. Upon the admission of new States 
subsequently stripes and stars were being added to the flag, 
which soon rendered it unwieldy and destroyed its form 

and perspicuity. 

On the admission of the State of Indiana into the Union, 
in 1816, a resolution was introduced at the second session of 
the Fourteenth Congress in the House, by Mr. Wendover, 
of New York, to inquire into the expediency of altering 
" the flag of the United States." Afterwards the Committee 
on Naval Affairs called on Captain Samuel Chester Reid, of 
New York, who was in Washington at the time, late com- 
mander of the brig-of-war General Armstrong, to make a 
permanent design for the flag. He reduced the stripes to 
thirteen, to represent the original States, and to add a star to 
the union for each new State. 



48 THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES. 

He presented two forms of the flag, one with the stars 
formed into one great star in the union expressing signifi- 
cantly the symbol, " E Pluribus Unum," for our ships and 
steamers in the merchant service, and the other with the stars 
in parallel lines for the halls of Congress, our ships of war, 
and public buildings. Congress approved of the design by 
" an act to establish the flag of the United States," passed 
thirty-first of March, 1818, Fifteenth Congress, first session, 
and approved by President Monroe on April 4, 1818. 

The first flag of the present design was made by the wife 
of Captain Reid, assisted by some young ladies, at her house 
in New York City, on Cherry Street, near Franklin Square, 
and was first hoisted on the Capitol on the thirteenth of 
April, 1818, seventy-five years ago. 

The lines of Drake are here appropriate : 

" Flag of the free heart's only home, 
B}^ angel hands to valor given ; 
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome. 

And all thy hues were born in heaven." 

The genius that designed the settled form and permanency 
of the United States flag was most aptly chosen. No braver 
or more gallant sailor could have been selected for the task 
— none more deserving than he, who had won the Avorld's 
applause and immortal fame at the battle of Fayal with a 
British squadron in 1814. 

A brilliant September midnight moon lit up with its sil- 
very sheen the waters of the bay and the walls of Horta, 
burnishing the towering volcanic peak of Mount Pico, which 
seemed excited to eruption as it looked down upon the battle 
scene below. The American ensign floated defiantly from 
the peak of the General Armstrong, amid the roar and smoke 
of guns and the clash of steel — then the battle cry and 



THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 

shout of victory rang out upon the air, and re-echoed again 
and again over the bay and the hills of Horta. The stars in 
that flag that night were silvered with a brilliant lustre, which 
not even the moonbeams dancing on the waves of the bay, 
blood-red with the human gore of England's bravest and best, 
could make more dazzling than the splendors of that victory ! 
It would seem that Drake was painting this scene, when 
he wrote : 

" Flag of the seas ! on ocean's wave 
Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave, 
When death careering on the gale 
Sweeps darkly round the swelling sail, 
And frighted waves rush wildly back 
Before the broadside's reeling rack. 
The dying wanderer on the sea 
Shall look at once to lieaven and thee — 
And smile, to see thy splendors fly, 
In triumph, o'er his closing eye." 

The prowess of nations and the heroism on their battle-fields 
have been inspired and achieved by the emblems of their 
battle-banners and flags, stimulating their warriors to deeds 
of valor and the highest courage. Carlyle says : " We see 
in flags the divine idea of duty, of heroic daring, and some- 
times of freedom and right." 

THE FLAG THAT REID DESIGNED. 

This is the flag that Reid designed ; 
Whose splendors by his art enshrined. 
Transformed anew the stripes and stars 
That proudly triumphed in our wars. 
Long as it waves 'twill bear his name, 
And tell of his immortal fame. 



60 ADMIRAL COCHRANE AND CAPTAIN REID. 

Who was the hero of Fayal ? 
A Ixxttle that exceeded all 

E'er fought upon the seas. 
A British squadron, ten to one, 
He vanquished with his "Long Tom" gun, 

And brought proud Albion to her knees. 

' 'Twas Reid, who on that fearful night 
Wielded liis sword with giant's might ; 
'Twas Reid, amid the cannon's roar. 
When steel flashed steel reeking with gore, 
In British blood he bathed anew 
The crimson in his flag so true. 

He added lustre still more bright. 
By this heroic, gallant fight. 
And to his country glory gave. 
Not knowing that he was to save 
The victory which Jackson won, 
Revencring the fall of Washington ! 

" S. C. Reid. 

ADMIRAL SIR THOMAS LORD COCHRANE AND 
CAPTAIN SAMUEL CHESTER REID. 

The London correspondent of the Baltimore Sun, hi 
April, 1879, gave the following interesting statement m • 
relation to the unjust treatment of the British naval hero. 
Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, by his government, whose 
name is historically connected with an American naval hero 
of equal, if not of greater renown, Captain Samuel Chester 

Reid: ,, 

"You, good reader from 'north of the Tweed, may call to 
memory the name of Thomas Lord Cochrane ; and you who 



ADMIRAL COCHRANE AND CAPTAIN REID. 51 

know better the banks of the Potomac may not be unmindful 
of this naval name. Last week this name was given justice 
in the election of a Scotch peer, and that peer was of the 
loins of Lord Cochrane, the late Earl of Dundonald. In 
European waters, on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the 
name of Lord Dundonald is a household word with readers 
of naval history. A vicious sentence of years hung over him, 
and an enormous fine paid by the subscriptions of two million 
six hundred and forty thousand persons at one penny each, 
told him of his persecution and popularity at one and the 
same time. He was expelled from the House of Cominons, 
but at once re-elected by the people of Westminster. By 
piecemeal his rights were i-estored in part when the sun of 
his life was setting. On a twilight eve in 1860 he died, 
bequeathing his claim against the British Government to his 
grandson, Douglas, the present Lord Cochrane. Last year 
all the back pay and rights of the great naval hero were 
fully paid and handed over to this Lord Cochrane, and on 
Tuesda}^ last the son of the ill-treated hero was elected a 
peer of Scotland, and his son, the aforesaid Lord Cochrane, 
beheld the memory and name of his grandfather and his 
father thus slowly but surely reinstated in the roll of history. 
How many men in America have been similarly ill-treated, 
but not similarly justified and rewarded ! " 

There is a remai-kable incident connecting the names of 
these two naval heroes with each other, and though as distant 
as the first and last links of a chain, they are nevertheless 
closely associated in both English and American history, 
the one having exercised a fatal destiny over the other. 

As we have seen, but for Captain Reid's heroic defence of 
the Armstrong in defeating and delaying Lloyd's Squadron, 
Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald, might 
have been a victorious hero, with his fleet triumphantly anch- 
ored in the Mississippi, off New Orleans, and the British flag 



52 A NEAY SONGo 

of the Cross of St. George proclaiming the conquest of an 
American India ! 

Tlius Captain Reid's fame and name are singukxrly linked 
with that of Sir Admiral Cochrane' s, the late Earl of Dnn- 
donald, who died in 1860, and the former in 18(31, without 
the reward of justice by either of their governments. 

THE GENERAL ARMSTRONG.— A NEW SONG. 

TUNE. — '' VIVE-LA." 

The following song was composed by the general ofiticers 
of the Armstrong on their voyage from Fayal to the United 
States. It is in the old ballad style of that day, and is 
worthy of preservation. 

Come, listen to a gallant action, 

Which was fought in Fayal Bay, 
By the saucy General Armstrong ; 

From eight p. m. till break of day. 

Chorus. — Hail ! the saucy General Armstrong : 
Reid's immortalized her name — 
Her cannon dealt death and destruction 
To furbish young Columbia's fame. 

Plantagenet, Rota, and Carnation 
Thought with her to have rare sport, 

Sent in their boats, with an intention 

To cut her out of a neutral port. — Chorus. 

At eight, four boats commenc'd the action, 
Which fifteen minutes' work laid low ; 

Quarters next came in rotation, 

Which on them we did bestow. — Chorus. 



A NEW SONG. 53 

Fourteen boats, with men five hundred, 
At midnight made tlie grand attack ; 

In forty minutes lialf their number 

Were killed and wounded, falling back. — Chorus. 

Britain's killed in both enofao-ements. 

Amounted to three hundred men ; 
Fifty more of them were wounded — 

The rest retreated back asfain. — Chorus. 

The number killed on board the General, 

It doth grieve us to relate. 
The falling of Lieutenant Williams, 

And one man we do resfret. — Chorus. 

Two lieutenants more were wounded, 

And likewise five of our men ; 
But we've got them safely landed, 

And recovering fast again. — Chorus. 

Then at break of day next morning, 

The sloop of war got under way. 
And opened her broadside upon us, 

British courage to display. — Chorus. 

Lest she should fall in their possession. 

We thought it prudent her to sink ; 
Which was put in execution. 

And thus the General became extinct. — Chorus. 

Then by the British she was boarded 

(Who finding her partly destroyed 
Set her on fire) when thus abandoned. 

By command of Captain Lloyd. — Chorus. 



54 CASE OF BRIG GENERAL ARMSTRONG. 

Although we could not save the General, 
Columbia's fame we held in view ; 

We have chastis'd the haughty Britons 
With our little Yankee crew. — Cliorus. 

THE CELEBRATED CASE OF THE BRIG GENERAL 

ARMSTRONG. 

The final destruction of the brig General Armstrong by the 
British squadron in the neutral waters of the island of Fayal, 
belonging to Portugal, in violation of the laws of neutrality, 
became a subject of earnest diplomatic correspondence between 
this government and Portugal for over forty years from the 
time of its occurrence. 

The Portuguese government had at once acknowledged its 
liability to this government, and made a peremptory demand 
on Great Britain for satisfaction and indemnification for the 
violation of the neutrality of its territoiy and the destruction 
of the Armstrong. The British government made an apology 
to Portugal for the violation of tlieii" neutrality, and indemnity 
for the loss of property sustained by the firing of the British 
warships, but refused to pay for tlie burning of the Arm- 
strong, for which Portugal was responsible to the United 
States for not having, as a neutral power, protected the 
Armstrong. 

The British crovernment contended that the American brig- 
first fired into the British boats, which were merely recon- 
noitering, without any cause or provocation ! 

After years of fruitless efforts to obtain any satisfaction 
from Portugal, that government, in 1843, wholly denied its 
liability, and boldly declared that the Americans had first 
violated the neutrality of their port ! 

This government, under Van Buren's administration, then 
abandoned the claim, on the ground that ■•' argument and 



CASE OF BRIG GENERAL ARMSTRONG. 55 

importunity had been exhausted, and the circumstances did 
not warrant it in having recourse to any other weapons." 

Mr. Sam C. Reid, Jr., who was then prosecuting this claim 
in behalf of his father, and the owners, officers, and crew of 
the brig, procured its revival in 1845, under Mr. Polk's ad- 
ministration. 

It may be interesting to the reader to give the following 
coincidence in relation to this claim. During the war with 
Mexico Mr. Reid was attached to Captain Ben McCulloch's 
scouting company of the celebrated Jack Hays' regiment of 
Texas Rangers. In August, 1846, tlie army of General 
Taylor was on its march from Comargo to Monterey. Mr. 
Reid had been sent with a despatch from the front to General 
Taylor, and after some friendly conversation, in taking his 
leave, Mr. Reid remarked, " Well, General, we may never 
meet again, but I think I know the popular pulse of our 
people well enough to predict that, if you win the battle of 
Monterey, you will become President of the United States ! " 
The General laughed, and expressing his incredulity, said, as 
Mr. Reid was mounting his horse, " Reid, when I get to be 
President your father shall have his claim against Portugal." 
"Good," replied Reid, "I'll hold you to it." 

General Taylor became President, and kept his word. He 
instructed Mr. John M. Clayton, Secretary of State in 1849, 
to renew this claim against Portugal. That government, 
backed up by England, refused to pay the claim, but urged 
that it be submitted to a third power for arbitration. Mr. 
Clayton declined to arbitrate so just a claim, and pledged the 
national honor never to consent to submit to so humiliatino- a 
proposition. 

Mr. Jas. B. Clay, our minister at Lisbon, son of Henry 
Clay, was then instructed to make a peremptory demand on 
Portugal, and our Mediterranean squadron proceeded, in July, 
1850, up the river Tagus to Lisbon to receive the ultimatum. 

L.ofC. 



56 CASE OF BRIG GENERAL ARMSTRONG. 

Portugal positively declined, and Mr. Clay took his passports 
and left for the United States. The case was being prepared 
to submit to Congress when General Taylor died, on the 
ninth of July, 1850. 

Mr. Fillmore's administration succeeded. The proposition 
to arbitrate was renewed, and accepted by this government 
in September, 1850, natwithstanding the national faith was 
plighted never to consent to tarnish its spotless escutcheon. 
Louis Napoleon, President of the French republic, was chosen 
arbiter, under a treaty which excluded the important testi- 
mony of the claimants. In 1853, when Louis Napoleon had 
become Emperor^ he decided the case in favor of Portugal 
and England, in violation of the treaty. 

In 1854, an appeal was made to Congress; unanimous re- 
ports were made in favor of the claim ; it passed the Senate 
twice, and was lost in the House the last time for the want 
of two of a quorum I In the debate in the Senate, in Jan- 
uary, 1855, Senator James A. Bayard, in referring to Louis 
Napoleon's decision, said : 

" Well, sir, looking on that decision as an atrocity through- 
out, unsustainable by any known principle of law, but a per- 
version of facts from beginning to end, I cannot believe that 
it would have been made if our government had not rejected 
the right of the claimant to be heard by his counsel, or by its 
own agents, before the authority deputed by the French Em- 
peror to examine the case. I therefore conceive that this 
party has lost a decision in this case from what I term the 
gross neglect of our government, arising from a misconstruc- 
tion of a treaty which does not preclude the right to be 
heard. ... In this country no man who wislies to be heard 
in defence of his rights should be refused a fair opportunity 
to be heard in vindication of those rights when they are to be 
decided upon. It is on this ground that I shall vote in favor 
of the claim as an obligation on the government." 



CASE OF BRIG GENERAL ARMSTRONG. 57 

The case was finally referred to the Court of Claims, whicli 
first decided in favor of the claimants, then, on a rehearing, 
it reversed its decision, but admitted the equity of the case. 
It was again submitted to Congress in 1858 ; unanimous 
reports were made in its favor, but, as usual, it failed for 
want of action. 

Twenty years had elapsed. All the original claimants had 
died. They had sunk into unrequited graves, with the in- 
gratitude of a government oblivious to their heroism and the 
great benefits they had rendered to their country, for tiieir 
only requiem. 

Their claims on the government had become forgotten in 
the dark labyrinths of the past, and the waves of time had 
washed over them as a long-abandoned wreck. 

During the forty-fifth Congress, Mr. Reid under these 
hopeless circumstances, renewed this claim for the benefit of 
the heirs. At the session of the forty-sixth Congress, unan- 
imous reports were made in favor of the bill, which had 
passed the Senate and lay on the speaker's table. On the 
last day of the session, Hon. Proctor Knott, of Kentucky, 
stood on the floor of the House from noon until midnipht in 
vain endeavoring to get the recognition of the Speaker, and 
the bill, with its usual fatality, again failed to pass. 

At the first session of the forty-seventh Congress, 1882, 
unanimous reports were again made in favor of the bill. 
The Plonorable W. W. Rice, of Massachusetts, that able and 
distinguished jurist and statesman, from the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House, in his report said : 

" Senate committees and House committees have many times 
reported in its favor, and never against it, and yet it is an 
unquestionable fact that the owners of the privateer General 
Armstrong, burnt by a British squadron in the neutral waters 
of Fayal, in September, 1814, after a defence by lier crew 
which won the admiration of the world and the gratitude of 



58 CASE OF BRIG GENERAL ARMSTRONG. 

their coiintiy, have never been paid for the property they 
then lost, and their representatives now stand where their 
fathers stood, at the doors of Congress, still waiting for 
tardy justice." 

At the same session, the late Hon. George H. Pendleton, 
of Ohio, in his masterly and exhaustive report from the 
Committee on Foreign relations of the Senate, thus alludes 
to this claim : 

" The event out of which the claim arose is most creditable 
to the valor and skill of American seamen, and in its remoter 
influences evidently secured victory to the American arms at 
New Orleans. The accompanying papers will give the nar- 
rative, which, in romantic incidents, almost equals a tale of 
the imagination." 

"^ The bill for the relief of the captain, owners, officers and 
crew of the brig General Armstrong finally passed at this 
session, April, 1882, appropriating the sum of seventy 
thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine dollars, which simply 
was for the actual loss of the owners for the brig, and for the 
personal loss of the effects of the officers and crew, without 
interest for sixty-eight years, the period for which the 
claimants had been awaiting tlie long delayed justice of this 
government, and wliieh had been demanded from the govern- 
ment of Portugal. 

It is a remarkable and astonishing fact, that through the 
blunders of the Department of State in illegally distributing 
this appropriation, a claim is still pending, unadjusted at this 
late day, for a portion of the sum thus awarded. 

This case occupied the attention of all Europe at the time 
of the unjust award of Louis Napoleon, which was afterward 
denounced by the Baron de Cussy, of France, in his great 
work on " International Law and the Rights of Neutrals," 
in which this case is cited as the most remarkable of the 
causes celehre. 



THE FIGHT OF THE " AKMSTRONG " PRIVATEER. 59 

The Armstrong Claim has been given a world-wide celeb- 
rity and notoriety, by its having been dramatized and made 
the foundation for the comedy of " The Senator." written by 
David D. Lloyd and Sidney Rosenfeld, and in which Mr. 
Wm. H. Crane has achieved such distinguished laurels. 

If the Press of the United States will, in their generosity 
and patriotism, advocate the raising of this monument to 
Captain Reid, by the contributions of The People in the 
purchase of this pamphlet to effect the same, there is no 
question of its success. 

THE FIGHT OF THE -ARMSTRONG " PRIVATEER. 

BY JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE. 

(From the Century Magazine, June, 1892.) 

Tell the story to your sons 

Of the gallant days of yore. 
When the brig of seven guns 
Fought the fleet of seven score, 
From the set of sun till morn, through the long September 

night — 
Ninety men against two thousand, and the ninety won the 

fight — 
In the harbor of Fayal the Azore. 

Three lofty British ships came a-sailing to Fayal ; 

One was a line-of-battle ship, and two were frigates tall ; 

Nelson's valiant men of Avar, brave as Britons ever are. 

Manned the guns they served so well at Abonkir and Tra- 
falgar. 

Lord Dundonald and his fleet at Jamaica, far away, 

Waited eager for their coming, fretted sore at their delay. 

There was work for men of mettle, ere the shameful peace 
was made, 



60 THE FIGHT OF THE "ARMSTRONG PRIVATEER. 

And the sword was overbalanced in the sordid scales of 

trade ; 
There were rebel knaves to swing, there were prisoners to 

brino- 
Home in fetters to old England for the glory of the King I 

At the setting of the sun and the ebbing of the tide 

Came the great ships, one by one, with their portals opened 

wide, 
And their cannon frowning down on the castle and the town 
And the privateer that lay close inside ; 
Came the eighteen-gun Carnation and the Rota, forty-four. 
And the triple-decked Plantagenet an admiral's pennon bore ; 
And the privateer grew smaller as their topmasts towered 

taller, 
And she bent her springs and anchored by the castle on the 

shore. 

Spake the noble Portuguese to the stranger : " Have no fear ; 
They are neutral waters, these, and your ship is sacred here 
As if fifty stout armadas stood to shelter you from harm, 
For the honor of the Briton will defend you from his arm." 
Bat the privateersman said, "Well we know the Englishmen, 
And their faith is written red in the Dartmoor slaughter-pen. 
Come what fortune God may send, we will fight them to the 

end. 
And the mercy of the sharks may spare us then." 

" Seize the pirate where she lies ! " cried the English admiral ; 
" If the Portuguese protect her, all the worse for Portugal I " 
And four launches at his bidding leaped impatient for the fray. 
Speeding shoreward where the Armstrong grim and dark and 

ready lay. 
Twice she hailed and gave them warning : but the feeble 

menace scorning. 



THE FIGHT OF THE " ARMSTRONG " PRIVATEER. 61 

On they came in splendid silence till a cable's length away — 
Then the Yankee pivot spoke ; Pico's thousand echoes woke, 
And four baffled, beaten launches drifted helpless on the bay. 

Then the wrath of Lloyd arose till the lion roared again, 

And he called out all his launches, and he called five hun- 
dred men ; 

And he gave the word, " No' quarter ! " and he sent them 
forth to smite. 

Heaven help the foe before him when the Briton comes in 
might ! 

Heaven helped the little Armstrong in her hour of bitter need ; 

God Almighty nerved the heart and guided well the arm of 
Reid. 

Launches to port and starboard, launches forward and aft, 
Fourteen launches all together striking the little craft. 
They hacked at the boarding nettings, they swarmed above 

the rail ; 
But the Long Tom roared from his pivot and the grape-shot 

fell like hail ; 
Pike and pistol and cutlass, and hearts that knew not fear. 
Bulwarks of brawm and mettle, guarded the privateer. 
And ever where fight was fiercest the form of Reid was seen ; 
Ever where foes drew nearest, his quick sword fell between. 
Once in the deadly strife 

The boarders' leader pressed 
Forward of all the rest, 
Challenging life for life ; 

But ere their blades had crossed, 
A dying sailor tossed 
His pistol to Reid, and cried, 
" Now riddle the lubber's hide ! " 
But the privateersman laughed and flung the w^eapon aside. 



62 THE FIGHT OF THE '•'ARMSTRONG" PRIVATEER. 

And he drove his Uade to the hilt, and the foeman gasped 

and died. 
Then the boarders took to their launches, laden with hurt 

and dead. 
But little with glory burdened, and out of the battle fled. 

Now the tide was at flood again, and the night was almost 

done, 
When the sloop- of-war came up with her odds of two to one, 
And she opened fire ; but the Armstrong answered her, gun 

for gun. 
And the gay Carnation wilted in half an hour of sun. 

Then the Armstrong, looking seaward, saw the mighty sev- 
enty-four. 
With her triple tier of cannon, drawing slowly to the shore. 
And the dauntless captain said: "Take our wounded and 

our dead. 
Bear them tenderly to land, for the Armstrong's days are 

o'er ; 
But no foe shall tread her deck, and no flag above it wave — 
To the ship that saved our honor we will give a shipman's 

pTave." 
So they did as he commanded, and they bore their mates to 

land. 
With the figurehead of Armstrong and the good sword in 

his hand. 
Then they turned the Long Tom downward, and they 

pierced her oaken side. 
And they cheered her, and they blessed her, and they sunk 

her in the tide. 

Tell the story to your sons. 

When the haughty stranger boasts 



THE FIGHT OF THE "ARMSTRONG" PRIVATEER. 63 

Of his mighty ships and guns 
And the muster of his hosts, 
How the word of God was witnessed in the gallant days of 

yore, 
When the twenty fled from one ere the rising of the sun, 
In the harbor of Fayal the Azore. 



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